5.4 The management of international migration

Question 1

Causes of migration from Poland to UK

Answer 1

Push:
Economic:
- high unemployment 19%
- low wages - one third of the EU average
Social:
- housing shortages and overcrowding - only 300 dwellings for every 1000 people

Pull:
Social:
- ease of migration (UK allowed unrestricted access to Polish citizens not all EU countries did)
- English is spoken as the second language
Economic:
- cheap flights make it possible
- plenty of jobs available in areas with skills shortage (dentistry and plumbing)
- earn 5x more in the UK meaning can send money home
- even low-paid work in UK attractive as average monthly wage in Poland was £800 a month in 2024

Question 2

What is the character of the Polish-UK migration stream?

Answer 2

• unlike earlier migration streams to the UK that involved people of non-European ethnic origin and move to big cities
• polish immigrants moved to a wide range of smaller towns where work was available
• Wrexham in north Wales received large numbers of Polish immigrants due number of jobs in industrial zone
• rural towns such as Hereford and Boston received large numbers (fruit picking)
• immigration much more widespread than previous migration streams

Question 3

What were the impacts on the source (Poland) country?

Answer 3

Pros:
Social:
- migrants young so led to reduced unemployment and housing shortages
Economic:
- remittances sent home - £2.2 billion a year

Cons:
Social:
- divorce rate double in seven years due to pressure of migration as many spouses left behind
- long periods of separation put strain on marriages
Economic:
- rapidly growing shortage of skilled workers in Poland, nearly half of businesses cited lack of skilled workforce as a barrier to growth in 2007

Question 4

What are the impacts on destination country (UK)?

Answer 4

Pros:
Social:
- cultural changes - more Polish shops on high street
- UK supermarket cater for Polish Tesco sells over 100 different lines of polish food
Economic:
- filled the gaps in UK labour market, new migrants work hard
- Polish workforce contributed several billion pounds to British economy
- supplied tenants for buy-to-let market
- low wages, benefit for employers
- increased taxes

Cons:
Social:
number of pupils with english as a second language increased from 300 to 500 in 18 months
- specialist language teachers recruited (expense)
- 427,000 migrants workers who successfully registered to work brought with 86,000 dependants - NHS may struggle
- some British people resents Polish workers taking ‘British jobs’

Question 5

How did UK gov react to this immigration?

Answer 5

• they did not restrict access to Poles but made them register under the Worker Registration Scheme so the UK Border Agency could monitor the situation
• gov also severely restricted access to workers from Bulgaria and Romania when they joined EU in 2007
• people from outside EU affected because gov now introduced strict limits on immigration from outside the EU

Question 6

Where in the UK are new Polish migrants settling?

Answer 6

• first go to where Polish communities already exist, such as Peterborough, but if cannot find work, go elsewhere encouraging others to follow, so many new Polish communities appearing around the country
• unlike previous flows many of new Poles settles in **smaller towns and rural areas such as Crewe